The Tapu Tree
by Sally McMeikan-Cash
School Journal, Part 3 Number 2, 2009
Readability (based on noun frequency) 8–9 years
Overview
Tama is staying with his cousins when one of them introduces him to the “tapu tree”.
But is it really tapu because of the ghosts, as his cousin claims? Only Koro has the
answer to that.
This light-hearted but insightful narrative uses the Māori practice of burying the
whenua (afterbirth) to explore the special nature of family histories and customs.
Students are likely to make connections with their own family and cultural
experiences as they read. These connections will inform their understanding of the
text – and of why people follow particular family or cultural practices more generally.
This text includes:

some ideas and information that are conveyed indirectly and require students to
infer by drawing on several related pieces of information in the text;

some information that is irrelevant to the identified purpose for reading (that is,
some competing information), which students need to identify and reject as they
integrate pieces of information in order to answer questions;

sentences that vary in length and in structure (for example, sentences that begin
in different ways and different kinds of complex sentences with a number of
subordinate clauses).
Reading standard, end of year 6
Options for curriculum contexts
Social sciences (level 3)

Understand how cultural practices vary but reflect similar purposes.
English (level 3, processes and strategies)

Integrate sources of information, processes, and strategies with developing
confidence to identify, form, and express ideas.
Key competencies

Thinking

Relating to others.
For more information refer to The New Zealand Curriculum.
The following example shows how a teacher could use this text, on the basis of an
inquiry process, to develop a lesson or series of lessons that supports students’
learning within a social sciences curriculum context. Depending on the needs of
your students, another context might be more appropriate.
Teacher Support Material for “The Tapu Tree” School Journal, Part 3 Number 2, 2009
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Suggested reading purpose
To find out about a particular cultural practice and how people relate to it
Links to the National Standards and the Literacy Learning
Progressions
Your students are working towards the reading standard for the end of year 5 or the
end of
year 6.
By the end of year 5, students will read, respond to, and think critically about
texts in order to meet the reading demands of the New Zealand Curriculum
as they work towards level 3 [at level 3 by the end of year 6]. Students will
locate, evaluate, and integrate information and ideas within and across a
small range of texts appropriate to this level as they generate and answer
questions to meet specific learning purposes across the curriculum.
Reading standard, end of years 5 and 6
Students will need to:

understand how they select from and use their repertoire of comprehension
strategies, which include:
o
making connections between their prior knowledge and the concrete
examples in a text in order to understand abstract ideas in the text
o
drawing on several related items of information in order to infer ideas and
information that are not directly stated in the text
o
evaluating and integrating ideas and information across a small range of
texts.
Reading progressions, end of year 6
Key vocabulary

Particular words and concepts, including “tapu”, “kēhua”, “shaggy-looking”,
“plucking up the courage”, “whenua”, “mana”, “massive bombs”

The vivid verbs – “scrambling”, “shuffling”, “grabbing”, “flung”, “chuckled”

The Māori vocabulary – “tapu”, “kēhua”, “whenua”, “mana” – and associated
opportunities to infer word meanings.
Refer to Sounds and Words (http://soundsandwords.tki.org.nz) for more information
on phonological awareness and spelling.
Prior knowledge
Prior knowledge that will support the use of this text includes:

knowledge of the world: awareness that people from different cultures have
different belief systems and cultural practices

personal experiences:
o
family relationships, customs, and stories
Teacher Support Material for “The Tapu Tree” School Journal, Part 3 Number 2, 2009
Accessed from www.schooljournal.tki.org.nz
CopyrightNew Zealand Ministry of Education
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o

staying with extended family or friends, where things are done differently from
at home
literacy-related knowledge: making connections and inferring.
Features of the text
These features may support or challenge the students, depending on their prior
knowledge.

The Māori context

Family treasures – the idea that family connections (whakapapa), stories, and
customs are treasures to be passed down

The transfer of knowledge – the idea that some knowledge is particularly special
and only certain people can pass it down (“You need to ask Koro that sort of
thing.”)

The circularity of the story – the action begins and ends at the tapu tree, but the
nature of the boys’ awareness and interaction has changed

The perspective of the first illustration (looking down on Tama) compared with
that of the last (at Tama’s level) and how this reflects Tama’s new understanding

The first-person narrator and associated personal tone

The dialogue, which conveys the teasing but warm relationships in the story –
“watch out, cuz – they’ll come and haunt you!”, “Take a handful, boy, or your
cousins will eat them all.”

The colloquialisms and expressions (especially for ELLs) – “Hey, bro”, “cuz”,
“freak me out”, “sneaking a look”, “cracked up laughing”, “plucking up the
courage”, “funny you should ask that”.
Suggested learning goal
To make connections between our lives and experiences, and those of the people in
the text, to understand more about how our ideas and beliefs connect with theirs
Success criteria
To support our understanding of the text, we will:

make comparisons with our own family experiences as we read

use these comparisons to help us understand the main ideas of the text

integrate our own experiences with what we have learned from the text to inform
our understanding of people.
A framework for the lesson
How will I help my students to achieve the learning goal?
Preparation for reading

Depending on your students’ needs, you could do an activity on relationships with
cousins, siblings, or close friends. Have these students complete an organiser
with the headings of:
Teacher Support Material for “The Tapu Tree” School Journal, Part 3 Number 2, 2009
Accessed from www.schooljournal.tki.org.nz
CopyrightNew Zealand Ministry of Education
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
o
What we do together
o
Things we talk about
o
What makes our relationship special
o
Mischief we get up to.
English language learners
Remember that English language learners need to encounter new vocabulary
many times; before, during, and after reading a text; and in the different contexts
of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. You will need to decide on the specific
vocabulary and language structures that are the most appropriate in relation to
the purpose for reading and explore these with your students before they read the
text. Scaffold the students’ understanding of the context by providing some
background to the text and any necessary prior knowledge. Also support the
students with some pre-reading experiences, such as jigsaw reading, partner
reading, or specific activities to explore and develop vocabulary. For more
information and support with English language learners, see ESOL Online at
www.esolonline.tki.org.nz
Before reading

Briefly share ideas from the preparation activity if you did it. Then introduce the
title of the story. “What do you know about the meaning of ‘tapu’? Why might a
tree be tapu?”

Share the purpose for reading, the learning goal, and the success criteria with the
students.
Reading and discussing the text
Refer to Effective Literacy Practice in Years 5 to 8, pages 80–93, for information
about deliberate acts of teaching.
Page 2
 “As I read this page I am thinking about the characters and what I can find out
about them from what they say. What do you think of Michael’s answer about why
the tree is tapu? What does it say about him?” Elicit what else the students can
tell about the characters and relationships. “Who do you think is older and why?”
“Do we know the narrator’s name?” Record their responses in your guided
reading book.

Prompt the students to start thinking about the story’s main ideas and themes. “I
wonder what the narrator means by ‘It sure looked like a tree that had a story’?”
Page 3
 Ensure that the students understand that Tama is the narrator.

Encourage the students to make connections with their own family relationships
to understand the text. If your students don’t naturally do this, prompt them to do
so. “How would you describe the relationships between the cousins?” “How do
they compare with relationships in your family?” “I wonder why Tama needs to
ask Koro about the tree?”

“Do you have any more thoughts about the main ideas?”
Teacher Support Material for “The Tapu Tree” School Journal, Part 3 Number 2, 2009
Accessed from www.schooljournal.tki.org.nz
CopyrightNew Zealand Ministry of Education
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Page 4
 If necessary, clarify the meaning of “pluck up the courage”. Discuss why Tama
had to pluck up the courage to ask Koro, prompting the students to make links
with their own lives.

Focus on “Funny you should ask that, boy.” Ask for the meaning of funny in this
context (that is, “interesting” rather than “humorous”). “I wonder why Koro thinks
it’s interesting that Tama has asked about the tree?” Ensure that the students
have made the link between Tama, his namesake (“Your great-uncle Tama”), and
the tree.

“Does anyone know what ‘whenua’ means? Can we work it out from the context?”
Page 5
 “Were you right about ‘whenua’?” Discuss the other meaning of “whenua” (land or
ground) and how the two meanings are linked to each other and to the practice of
burying the afterbirth. Some students may be familiar with this practice, which is
underpinned by the belief that humans first came from the body of Papatūānuku
(the earth mother).

Discuss the relationship between Koro and the boys. “Why does Tama have to
force himself to speak?” “I wonder why Koro gets gruff when Michael asks about
the whenua?” Notice how Auntie Mel directs the boys to Koro for one type of
knowledge and the reverse happens for another type of knowledge.
Page 6
 Revisit the students’ ideas about what “tapu” means and consider “mana” too.
“What’s Koro’s main point about the tree?” Discuss the idea of having respect for
special things. Draw out how the tree connects the family to their whakapapa
(genealogy).

Focus on Koro’s statement “Well boy, you never asked!” and the way he chuckles
afterwards. “Do you think Koro would have told Michael if he’d asked about the
tree earlier?” “What makes you say that?” The students may have different ideas
about this. (The underlying question is: Do you receive important information
because you ask for it or because you are ready for the knowledge or both?)
“Would Koro tell just anyone if they asked?”

“I wonder why the boys decide not to tell anyone the story of the tree?” Have the
students think, pair, and share possible interpretations. (Perhaps the boys realise
how precious the knowledge is and that they need to protect it? Or perhaps they
are just being boys guarding secrets?)
After reading

Have the students share what they think are the main ideas, backing up their
responses with evidence from the text. They may express similar ideas in
different ways, and their responses will also depend on their level of
understanding. Some possible responses at different levels of understanding are
listed below.
o
“Māori bury whenua (afterbirth) under special trees.” “You can’t climb a tree
where whenua is buried.”
o
“Family stories and traditions are special, and we have to respect them.” “It’s
important to find out our family stories.”
Teacher Support Material for “The Tapu Tree” School Journal, Part 3 Number 2, 2009
Accessed from www.schooljournal.tki.org.nz
CopyrightNew Zealand Ministry of Education
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o

“Our whakapapa is special because it links us with each other and with the
land.” “Some knowledge is very special, and only certain people can pass it
down.”
Think, pair, and share: “What things, traditions, or stories are treasured in your
family and why?” Record the students’ ideas in a chart like that below. Support
them to compare their responses with the ideas in the text, focusing in particular
on the reasons for doing particular things. Draw out the idea that families and
cultural groups may do very different things for similar reasons.
What is special (things,
traditions, stories)
Why it is special
What we do or how we
behave around it
Reflect with the students on how well they have met the learning goal and note any
teaching points for future sessions. “How did making connections with your own life
affect your understanding of this text? Can you see any similarities between what
your family does and what the characters do that you didn’t see at first?”
Further learning
What follow-up teaching will help my students to consolidate their new learning?

Have the students compare the ideas in this text with those in “Nanny’s Tokotoko”
(SJ 1.2.08), “Family Treasures” (SJ 1.3.07), and other Journal items about things
that are special to people.

Have the students create a family tree that presents short stories associated with
various members of your family.

Ask students to each choose one person they know and write a short story about
a special occasion or event they experienced with that person that had an impact
on the student.

Ask students to retell a story about their family history or write two or three
paragraphs describing a family treasure.
Teacher Support Material for “The Tapu Tree” School Journal, Part 3 Number 2, 2009
Accessed from www.schooljournal.tki.org.nz
CopyrightNew Zealand Ministry of Education
-6-